WORCESTER — The Slater Building has been a prominent downtown fixture since its construction in 1907 and is considered to be one of the city's first skyscrapers.

Situated at 390 Main St., between Elm and Pearl streets, it was built by the trustees of the estate of H.N. Slater Jr.

Mr. Slater was a mill owner from Webster.

The 135-foot-high, 10-story building was constructed of Milford pink granite and buff Bedford Indian limestone, and has been home to a variety of businesses (click on the photo to see the present-day 10-story building).

Old-timers affectionately remember when the Ware Pratt Co. clothing company was housed in the structure.

Ware Pratt was one of several clothing stores that lined Main Street and drew customers from all around Central Massachusetts. The store ran into financial difficulties and closed in 1975, when it could not renegotiate its lease.

Other original tenants at the Slater included Wood's Woman Shop and the Putnam-Davis stationery store.

Historically, the Slater has offered space to high-profile firms and it continues to do so today.

For example, Commerce Bank and Trust Co. moved in when the old Guaranty Bank & Trust vacated its premises in 1971 and moved up the street to the new "Guaranty Building."

When the city was moving forward on urban renewal projects in the early 1970s, there was substantive talk about moving just about all the state offices that were in Worcester into the Slater.

The steel-framed building was constructed by Norcross Brothers, which built several other Worcester landmarks.

The Slater was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Commerce Bank recently updated the entire building, inside and out, with an eye toward preserving some of its unique architectural details.